Fort Ward Observer: Runoff Continues to Baffle Recreation Department at Fort Ward J. Glenn Eugster

Fort Ward Observer:  Runoff Continues to Baffle Recreation Department at Fort Ward

J. Glenn Eugster

Part of the time and money being spent at Fort Ward Historic Park is intended to go to solving water runoff problems inside and outside the park.  The Advisory Group that the City created to help park managers recommended that the three primary departments who manage Fort Ward work closer together to integrate their actions.  Although some progress has been achieved in tackling other problems, the solutions to managing runoff continue to baffle park managers.  

As recently as last month the grassed slopes of Fort Ward continued to send storm water downhill toward the Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery, already eroding stream channels and playgrounds, and adjacent residential homes.

Over two years ago the Director of the Recreation Department James Spengler, in cooperation with the Advisory Group, made changes to the way grassed areas were being maintained in hopes of slowing down water runoff.  In a note to an adjacent neighbor Mr. Spengler wrote,  

“The mowing policy in the park was changed this spring prior to the mowing season. The main complaints/concerns I considered were park erosion, flooding and other drainage problems (brought by park neighbors). In considering a solution or improvement to those issue the only non-structural approach is management of the natural area - the park grounds. It is a common practice when resolving these issue to "naturalize" areas. This is particularly important in drainage ways as found in Ft. Ward.  I made two presentations to the SAG [Advisory Group], a presentation to the Park Commission and made it a point of a presentation to City Council. The pros and cons of the approach were outlined to each body. I know that some people would not like the look, it would take several season for a meadow to emerge but drainage improvement would be immediate. All of these things have happened. In the end it is what the public wants to see happen to balance esthetics versus drainage problems. The meadows will be mowed three times a year with the next mowing by November 12. Volunteers are collecting seeds from the beneficial prairie plants in this park and other locations as part of our meadow planting program. We will also plant more native grasses each year. This does save money in mowing costs and less environmental pollution. Less negative environmental impact is a policy of the City through the Eco-City initiative”.  

(From Jim Spengler, Director Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Activities September 28, 2010 to Jeff Lane)

Despite the well-intentioned efforts of the Recreation Department to slow down runoff, the grass has been left longer during the dry periods of the year and cut short during the wet periods.   Unfortunately water runoff continues to flood and erode graves, further erode stream channels toppling trees and washing soil into storm sewers, and flood adjacent private properties.   Further efforts to manage runoff at Fort Ward will require the park managers to work with city hydrologists, as well as consultants, to find ways to plan with nature. 

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead? Adrienne Terrell Washington

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead?

Adrienne Terrell Washington

“We think that the honoring of the graves is the most important thing that should be honored, protected and preserved.  One is not more important than the other”.

“Our desire is to honor all of the lost graves.  All the areas of the park need to be included--not just restricting the [African American] presence to the east-side of the park.  People lived throughout the park.  This needs to be historically correct”.

Remarks by Adrienne Washington at the Fort Ward Park and Museum  Advisory Group Meeting on January 9, 2013

View from Fort Ward: City Continues to Neglect Family Grave Areas at Fort Ward by J. Glenn Eugster

View from Fort Ward:  City Continues to Neglect Family Grave Areas at Fort Ward 

J.Glenn Eugster

July 18, 2013

After countless hours of meetings, hundreds of public written comments, dozens of newspaper, magazine, radio and television stories,  years of study by City of Alexandria agencies and an advisory group, the city’s approach to protecting and maintaining family grave areas within Fort Ward Park has not changed.  Identified and documented family grave areas continue to be unmarked and poorly maintained despite the pleas and urgings of the descendant family members of those buried in the park, as well as leaders of the Fort Ward History Work Group and the Fort Ward Park and Museum Advisory Group.

Alexandria has 128 parks.  According to Jim Spengler, Director of the City’s Recreation Department, this is the only one which is “historic”.  “We aren’t historic, not trained in historic maintenance and never will be.  Maintenance workers don’t differentiate between different [types of] parks.  Park crews mostly work on athletic fields and get [positive] feedback on their work”.

During discussions with the Advisory Group members Mr. Spengler has suggested that Fort Ward Park’s historic areas would be better managed by the City’s Office of Historic Alexandria(OHA) or a private contractor.   Lance Malamo, Director of OHA, isn’t sure that he has the money or the expertise within his group to manage the park’s historic areas.  When descendants and community leaders first expressed concern about the damage to and maintenance of the grave areas he referred them to the Recreation Department.

While Alexandria’s department heads work out their responsibilities, and the Advisory Group and the city’s consultant continue to prepare a management plan for the park, the family grave areas need to be respected, protected and maintained.   The park’s history includes the Civil War and the families that lived in the area before the park was created.  Continued neglect and disrespect of these sacred places, especially during the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War,  reflects badly on the City of Alexandria and its residents.   Citizens have repeatedly asked for improved management at Fort Ward Park.  It’s time the city made this park a priority.

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead? Fran Bromberg

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead?
Fran Bromberg

“There are more areas to look at.  There are areas where there appear to be rows of graves--and family groupings.  Ms. Douglas’s brothers are buried with the Jackson’s”.

“Other possible cemeteries will be addressed.  Do you want to demarcate the area? “

“Test pits are particularly good at identifying graves.  It’s not an ideal way to look for burials.  More oral history [work] will be recommended.  If you really want to know where the graves are you have to scrape”.

“If there are other places that are identified as cemeteries the city can do more archaeology”.

Remarks by Fran Bromberg, Acting City of Alexandria Archaeologist at the Fort Ward Park and Museum Advisory Group Meeting. January 9, 2013

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead? Elizabeth Douglas

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead?

Elizabeth Douglas

“There should be more plots over there.  There wasn’t any fence between the Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery and the Old Grave Yard.  The Old Grave Yard stones and land was owned by the church.  I argued with the city over the Fitzhugh, Spence and other graves.  Virginia Fitzhugh and Corneillia Spence are both part of the Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery”.

“I went to see the city about the grave stones on the Jackson Cemetery.  I went three times to City Hall in the 1970’s.  I went to Fort Ward Park about the headstones.  I didn’t get any answer.  A man [from the city] told me what they didn’t throw away they sold”.

“All through here people are buried.  People buried in their backyards.”

Discussion with Ms. Elizabeth Douglas, and Frances Terrell, at the Old Grave Yard in Fort Ward Park.  

October 10, 2012

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead? Councilman Rob Krupicka

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead?

Councilman Rob Krupicka

“ The City has a moral obligation to address the issues and history at Ft. Ward. I put $225,00 in my budget proposal to start work on that. It does not address everything, but it is a good down payment. Alexandrians understand how important it is to respect our history and natural resources. The families that have been waiting for resolution deserve to get it.” -- Councilman Rob Krupicka

Memo to Fort Ward Observer 4/29/2011

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead? Judy Young-Smith

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead?

Judy Young-Smith 

"Between Clara Adams grave and the new maintenance area there were graves--ten or more".  

March 7, 2009 Oral history interview with Sgt. Young, Judy Young Smith, Adrienne Terrell Washington, other members of the Young family, Dave Cavanaugh, J. Glenn Eugster, and Pam Cressey, Susan Cumbey and Wally Owen, and others, from the City of Alexandria, VA. 

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead? Lance Mallamo

Fort Ward's Lost Graves:  Who speaks for the dead?
Lance Mallamo

Despite the possibility of more missing graves, Lance Mallamo, Director of the Office of Historic Alexandria, said the city, which has spent more than $1 million on Fort Ward Park since 2009, had no immediate plans to continue digging in the park.

"We just don't have the funding to remove every blade of grass and every tree to see if there's a burial out there," Mallamo said. "We focused on areas with documented evidence that showed there were graves."

Mallamo said new technology somewhere down the road will likely allow the city to uncover more graves in an "environmentally responsible way." The ground-penetrating radar used by archeologists in recent searches produced mixed results. And, he said, the lost graves remaining in the park are not immediately threatened.

News article by Taylor Holland. Washington Examiner. September 9, 2012

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead? Richard and Mary Ruffner Certificate of Title

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead?
Richard and Mary Ruffner Certificate of Title

“Examination calls attention to the fact that in the Wallace Smith description in the conveyance from Amanda Clark to him, being in Liber. V, No. 10, pg. 142, the east line of  the Smith property, which is the west line of this property, is referred to as running along “the line of the old graveyard”, there is no notation on the records of the creation of any graveyard rights but it is possible that old family graves may thereby be located on this parcel and the rights therein would have to be respected”.

Certificate of Title, prepared for Richard and Mary Ruffner, June 13, 1933 

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead? Ralph Hall

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead?

Ralph Hall

Ralph Hall once worked as a laborer for the City of Alexandria, VA.   “Ralph Hall said there were graves below [the backside of] the Fort.  There were depressions [from grave subsidence] and he was told to fill them”.

Interview with Wanda Dowell, Former Director of the Fort Ward Museum. June 28, 2010. Fort Ward Observer and the Fort Ward History Work Group.

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead? Julia Randle

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead? 

Julia Randle

Julia Randle, archivist at Virginia Theological Seminary’s Bishop Payne Library, where the [Fort Ward History Workgroup] meeting was held, said that the findings should have a huge impact on Alexandria citizens, particularly the black community.

“Alexandria, historically, has focused on it being the colonial port and the home of George Washington and this place that was occupied throughout the Civil War,” Randle said.  “But throughout it’s whole history, it wasn’t just white guys doing things.  It wasn’t just a white community.  It had a large African American community and history that went to put together everything that is Alexandria.”

“We are a community not just of white Southerners, we are a community of people, who are black and white and everything in between,” Randle said.  “The significance to the community of Alexandria is the inclusion of the whole community and telling the whole story.”

Julia Randle, Registrar and Historiographer at Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, February 6, 2011 from "Archaeological Study Reveals Significant Finds At Fort Ward"

By Haley Crum 

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead? Elizabeth H. Douglas

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead?

Elizabeth H. Douglas

Ms. Elizabeth Henry Douglas, who received the 2009 Brenman Archaeology Award from the Mayor and City Council in October 2009 for her contribution to the City’s oral history program, told members of the Fort Ward History Work Group  that, “The number of graves is more than you have noted. Most of the people who lived in the Fort area had family graves.  Everyone buried on their own lot“.  She noted that the area was not called Fort Ward, only the “Fort”.

Ms. Douglas provided the group with additional insights about the connections between the Fort and the Donaldston Store, roads, mail delivery, and the location of James Jackson’s home which is where the Fort Ward Museum is now located.  She also said that “all of the grave stones, except one, had been removed [from the area] just before they started doing the park”.

Elizabeth Douglas noted that the Fitzhugh and Spence graves [in front of the entrance to the maintenance and nursery area] belong in the Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery not sticking out where they are”.  She noted that the base of one of the gravestones has been damaged and needs to be repaired.

Minutes of the March 6, 2010 Fort Ward History Work Group Meeting

Fort Ward’s Lost Graves: Who Speaks for the Dead? Susan Cumbey

Fort Ward’s Lost Graves: Who Speaks for the Dead?

Susan Cumbey

“Lance (Mallamo) asked that I inform you about the grave site area that existed on the west side of the park.  This area was situated to the rear of picnic area 6, adjacent to the restored Northwest bastion of the fort.

It is also interesting that Wanda Dowell, former director of the Fort Ward Museum and HIstoric Site, generally recalled from her early years working at Fort Ward that some of the headstones were removed from this area, and Wally Owen (of the Museum) recalls visiting the park when he was young and seeing a headstone at the base of a tree in that area”.

Letter from Susan Cumbey, Director of the Fort Ward Museum and Historic Site, to Kirk Kincannon, Director of the City of Alexandria Recreation Department. March 13, 2009

Reply to Lance Mallamo, Director. Office of Historic Alexandria, VA. Regarding Fort Ward HIstory Work Group

                               November 18, 2013

Dear Mr. Mallamo,

Thank you for your note.  Adrienne and I had hoped for an opportunity to talk with you about the Fort Ward History Work Group.  Your comments at Wednesday nights Fort Ward Park & Museum Advisory Group Meeting were even more troubling than your written comments of October 31, 2013.  

We are interested in responding to your request.  However, it’s important to be clear on the following facts since you did imply that we were under your command and indicated that we had not lived up to our duties and responsibilities in your line of command.

First, we are voluntarily assisting the city in this community-driven effort.  We do not have any agreement with your office as to what services we are to provide you.

Second, as you noted, you did create the Fort Ward History Work Group, and as a result it is not an official City of Alexandria advisory group.  When you created it you did not provide any guidance to the group other than to say you wanted the group to be open to the public and for the participants to provide information to the Office of Historic Alexandria for use in the Fort Ward Park decision-making process.  The group has no guidelines from the city or your office as to what we should and shouldn’t be doing.

Third,  since the Fort Ward Park & Museum Advisory Group does not have any formal guidance for it’s activities from the City of Alexandria,  no functional relationship between that group and the work group has been described.

We note these facts because in your written and verbal comments you have been asserting that we have not met your expectations in terms of performance of the duties that we have been performing.  Your recent expectations seem to be, frankly, arbitrary and capricious at best, destructive at worst.  The group is the creation of your office, however,  it is entirely inappropriate to treat, and mistreat, us as employees at your beck and call.

We are more than willing to assist your efforts to help insure that good decision-making return to Fort Ward Park.  Our response to your specific requests follows:

1.  The e-mail list of work group members and OHA staff who are on your  meeting notification list has been provided to your office in the past.  I suggest that you search your office’s files for this information.  We can provide you with copies of the sign-in sheets from meetings we have held.  We can scan this information and send it to you electronically.  Let us know if you would like us to do that for you.

We also use social-media to reach a large number of individuals you are interested in the work going on at Fort Ward.  Despite some of the concerns of some Advisory Group members social-media sites are part of an effective public outreach effort.  

2.  Your interest in the dates and meeting notices to which work group members and OHA staff were notified during the past year is best retrieved by your office staff from their own computers.  Over the course of the life of the work group we have mailed notices to hundreds and hundreds of individuals.  Messages sent to members and the public are the same messages sent to you and your staff.  Communications did not discriminate between OHA staff and other

1. 3.  Meeting minutes were never a requirement of this group.  The tradition of 

keeping a summary of the meetings was done as a public outreach technique to inform and inspire the members and others about the work of the group.  As you may recall early in this effort Pam Cressey and I did the bulk of this note taking.   When Adrienne and I were elected by the members to be the co-chairs of the work group, at a meeting you did not attend, our roles changed and formal note taking for some meetings was not determined to be necessary since, aside from the election of co-chairs, this group is a research and non-voting organization.  

1. 
   

4.      This letter confirms that we distributed the public presentation notice to FWHWG members, as I requested in my email of October 31, 2013.

I hope this is helpful to you.  Please let us know if you would like to meet to discuss the work group activities, or the contents of this message, further.

Sincerely,

Glenn

1. Glenn Eugster

Adrienne

Adrienne Terrell Washington

Co-Chairs, Fort Ward History Work Group

Jackson Family Cemetery Cleaned and Roped-Off

Jackson Family Cemetery Cleaned and Roped-Off 

December 4, 2013

One of many family grave areas in Fort Ward Park is the Jackson Family burial area.  Located just outside of the fort walls, city archaeologists confirmed what public records have shown for years--the area has many burial sites.  Although city officials knew of the grave area the cemetery was always mowed and treated as recreation land rather than sacred ground.  At times the area has been either well-maintained or very neglected.

Recently in response to concerns of neglect expressed by Frances Colbert Terrell of the Fort Ward Park & Museum Advisory Group city officials took action to clean debris and rope-off the known graves.  

As the park’s management plan is completed, after review by the Advisory Group, the public and city officials, Jackson family descendants and others who love Fort Ward will get a better idea of what best practices the Recreation Department staff will use to maintain this, and other, historic areas at the park.

Fort Ward’s Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead? Dr. Pamela Cressey

Fort Ward’s Lost Graves:  Who speaks for the dead?

Dr. Pamela Cressey

“Here are important points that need to be conveyed at the [public] meeting on the 18th.

1. the entire park is on the national register and has potential for cultural resources.
2. there is a lot of historical information collected already for us in the past and neighbors currently.
3. We have four oral histories related to fort ward--and another one done just last saturday.  more can be done.
4. the maintenance yard is definitely a cemetery--don’t know if resources are still there.
5. archaeology will take a long time because of money and staff--will need to prioritize (I would think graves first) and expand out from known areas to find graves--this is time consumng.  Is possible for community volunteers to help........

         9.  Best to capitalize on public interest and professionalism and form a workng group--call it an advisory group--to go through these steps: neighbors, descendant families and interested black history people, recreation people, natural history people as well as staff from both depts.  This group must work not like a regular task force with one mission job, but work over time to develop trust, communication and become good stewards of the park’s resources and stories”.

Memorandum from Pamela Cressey, City Archaeologist, to Lance Mallamo, Director of the Office of HIstoric Alexandria.  March 13, 2009.

Remembering the Solitude of Fort Ward Park

Remembering the Solitude of Fort Ward Park

Charles W. Hendryx, the City of Alexandria’s first arborist, is long gone and forgotten.  No one at the Fort Ward Museum remembers him.  The City Recreation Department has no information about him.  Some of the people that worked for the city back-in-the-day remember him and know that one of the features of Fort Ward Park is the memorial that was created in his honor.

A search of the records in the Fort Ward Museum and the Alexandria Archives turned-up information about Mr. Hendryx and a lady named Mrs. R.F.S. Starr.  Mrs. Starr is often recognized as one of the people that helped convince City of Alexandria elected officials to save Fort Ward and create a historic park.  The Museum’s Library is named after Mrs. Starr to honor her work.

As it turns out Mrs. Starr and Mr. Hendryx worked together in the 1950’s to develop “preliminary thoughts” for Fort Ward Park.  Ideas for preservation, land acquisition, picnic areas, trails, footpaths, restrooms, parking and, natural and azalea plantings were shared between the two and used as the basis for the preparation of the initial plan for the park.

To recognize Mr. Hendryx’s contribution the city developed a small memorial, surrounded by azaleas and flowers, in his honor.   The memorial is located near the boundary where the park, Oakland Baptist Church Cemetery and Marlboro Estates comes together.  It is downslope of the cemetery within an area that early city maps described as “Solitude”, which was keeping with the city’s goal to protect history, provide recreation and preserve open space within the Fort Ward area.

Over the years, for good and not-so-good reasons, the area of solitude became a forgotten part of the park.  The area increasingly has been neglected with grass and leaves uncut and shrubs unkept.  Several benches that provide quiet places to meditate about nature fell into disrepair and small donor plaques placed on them were removed.  Even the Fort Ward Park & Musem Advisory Group members, charged with improving the management and protection of the park seemed to be ambivalent about this area.

Yesterday and today, however, a change was in the wind.  A Recreation Department maintenance truck pulled into the area and two city workers began removing two badly damaged benches, pruning overgrown shrubs, removing invasive species, and raking leaves away from the memorial and sitting area.

Although the changes are modest they are obvious and most welcome for they are the first signs of city interest in this part of the park in quite sometime.  City efforts, as well as donations and volunteer efforts from the Marlboro Estate residents, could help make this area an asset to Fort Ward once again.  If Mr. Hendryx and Mrs. Starr were still with us I’m sure they would be glad that the park they helped create and develop continues to be cared for.

Signs at Fort Ward

Signs at Fort Ward

If you visit the site of the proposed Freedman’s Memorial Park it is easy to learn about what work is underway.  Professional signs are posted on fences around the area to inform and educate residents and visitors to the proposed preservation site.

If you visited Fort Ward Park over the last three years occasionally you might find an 8 X 11” sheet of paper describing what archaeological research is underway.  The maintenance yard, where more graves are located, is locked-down and the only posted information is to “Keep Out”.  Staff in the Fort Ward Park Museum, or park maintenance workers, are always helpful if you seek them out and ask them about what is going on at Fort Ward.  However, the Museum has had cut-backs and is not always open.  Park maintenance workers are spread thin caring for a number of recreation areas in this district.

Many believe that you cannot not communicate.  Sometimes what you don’t or won’t say about what is going on speaks volumes about how you feel.  The Fort Ward Park effort has been undertaken with considerable resistance from the City of Alexandria department heads responsible for managing this area.  Some of that might be because they can’t do everything that needs to be done as quickly as it needs to be done.  In other cases they explain that they “don’t do historical parks”, “don’t have funding” , “don’t believe certain tasks are needed”, or that certain concerns aren’t concerns.

In many situations communication suffers when public servants are very busy.  Some city employees treat the communities that they serve as “the front” and view involving the public in decision-making as unnecessary, at best, and hostile at worst.  Fort Ward has clearly been one of the examples of how neglecting communication can make city services far more complicated, time consuming and expensive.   Although city leaders have taken steps to improve civic engagement more often than not it is business as usual at Fort Ward--which is a topic for another day.

As is the case with the Freedman’s area the city is getting outside public and private funds from others to undertake work at Fort Ward.  Professionally made signs which describe the work underway at Fort Ward would not only help keep citizens informed it would also be a good way to tell others about the support the city is receiving from other organizations.  City Council, the National Park Service, the National Trust for HIstoric Preservation, and others have made contributions that need to be publicly acknowledged.

Fort Ward Park has other signs sharing all kinds of information.  Not one sign acknowledges that the entire area is listed on the National Register of HIstoric Places.  Not one sign gives park users information about the work underway and why it is being done.  Perhaps omission of these signs is due to tight budgets. Or perhaps it is a sign of something else.  Either way, what we have here is a failure to communicate.

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead? Councilwoman Del Pepper

Fort Ward's Lost Graves: Who speaks for the dead?

Councilwoman Del Pepper

“I’d like the grave sites[ at Fort Ward Park] commemorated in the park so that its an attraction.  There are lots of immediate neighbors in the area.  This has been an awful experience for them.  Don’t underestimate the value of their concerns”. 

Remarks by Councilwoman Del Pepper at the December 13, 2008 Alexandria, VA. CIty Council Meeting

City Council's Charge to the Fort Ward Park and Museum Advisory Group

Dear Linda and Chuck,

I hope this note finds you well.

This letter follows the comments I made at your Fort Ward Park and Museum Advisory Group Meeting about opportunities for public involvement in the review and approval of the management plan for Fort Ward Park and Museum.  I was disappointed that your meeting tonight to discuss this subject was cancelled.  However, I well understand the importance of taking a break from your volunteer work and enjoying the holidays.  All of you have worked long and hard and you deserve a break.

As I mentioned on November 13, 2013 the published schedule for the completion of the Fort Ward Park  & Museum Management Plan indicates that there will be one public meeting held before the draft plan winds its way through the formal City of Alexandria review and approval process.  Ms. Durham indicated that this proposed meeting would be some type of “informal public meeting”.   In the past Ms. Durham and you, Ms. Ries, have indicated that there would be opportunities for public involvement. Given these assurances I found the statements which were made on the 13th to be surprising given the history of decision-making for the Fort and the city’s recent Civic Engagement initiative. 

When the City Council resolution was crafted to direct and fund the development of the Fort Ward and Museum Management Plan there were three “charges” for the Advisory Group.  Items 2. and 3. relate to public involvement in the process of developing a Fort Ward Park & Museum Management Plan.  This provision was inserted to help insure that the plan for the park and museum would be developed with the community rather than developed for it.  As you are well aware Fort Ward has suffered from closed and inaccessible decision-making in the past.  As much as I’d like to believe that the soon-to-be-shared new plan will be a good one, the process so far has bee one that hasn’t embraced these two charges.

For example, Mr. Mallamo recent effort to prepare a hefty report on the families of the Fort Ward community was done with no input from those who lived in the community or their descendant family members.  The notion that an outside consultant can come up with a work product without input from citizens is paternal, unprofessional and a bad reflection on the city.  That effort was an opportunity to “bring community values, knowledge, ideas and advice into the process to develop the management plan”.  Although the African American community is now being given an opportunity to review the document to make sure the research is accurate, Mr. Mallamo’s actions--which are part of the management plan process, are a definite departure from the intent of City Council and the spirit of the 2011 charge.

It is unclear how the various pieces of the park and museum management plan will come together to avoid single-purpose perspectives of different departments.  I understand from what I learned at your meeting that the city’s consultant is scheduled to provide the advisory group a draft management plan on January 8, 2014.   Given that the  above-noted history report is still under community review and comment, and  promised city/ consultant outreach to adjacent homeowners regarding the Storm Water Plan has not been completed,  it seems as if a consultant presentation of the draft plan  is premature.  As you well know the topics of storm water and African American history and culture were two of the major issues that sparked public concern after the development of the 2008 Fort Ward Facilities Plan by the City’s Recreation Department.

Hopefully all these different elements of the park and museum management plan will come together in an integrated and timely way.

My hope is that as the advisory group discusses public involvement you will depart from the approach you have been using during this phase of the effort.  Offering public comments at your meetings is important but it does not respond to City Council charge to your group.  By providing the public with a number of well-designed opportunities to review and comment on the draft plan you help help insure that the document will be accurate and well-received by the communities of the city that you serve, before it is put on review by others.    Meeting your charge now with appropriate public involvement will make the process go smoother.  A failure to embrace your charge will become an issue especially if there is community dis-satisfaction to the proposed plan.  

My involvement with Fort Ward started unexpectedly in 2006.  My request then, as it is now, was to have appointed and elected city officials make decisions with us, not for us, or to us.  It takes a good process to come up with a good plan.  Hopefully you will help give us both so we can get behind the proposal.

Thanks again for your time and effort on the Advisory Group.  You are providing and important service to the city and your neighbors.

May your holidays be joyous and safe.

Sincerely,

Glenn

J. Glenn Eugster

Fort Ward Management Plan: Possible Alternatives for Park Ownership & Management

Fort Ward Management Plan:  Possible Alternatives for Park Ownership & Management

December 2013:  Members of the Fort Ward Park & Museum Advisory Group, as well as City Council members and the Chair of the Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee, reportedly have been having discussions about possible options for the ownership and management of Fort Ward Park.  According to reliable sources  inside city government the idea of transferring ownership of Fort Ward to the Northern Virginia Regional Parks Authority has been discussed.  City leaders and advisors have also discussed numerous other options including some type of park conservancy approach for long-term operations and improvement to the site.  The City of Alexandria’s Open Space Coordinator and Liaison to the Advisory Group believes that type of recommendation will be included in the implementation section of the draft Fort Ward Park & Museum Management Plan now being developed by a consultant working for the Department of Recreation.   The details of these alternatives have not been shared with the public for comment.

The draft plan is scheduled to be presented to and discussed with the Advisory Group at their January 2014 meeting.